Annunciator



Patented Mar. 23, 1943 UNITED res-rare 'r OFFICE I ANNUNCIATOR 'Leo L.Kritz, Spencer, Iowa Application center 7, 1940-, Serial No. 359,993

2 Claims. (Cl. 177-329) not interfere with the operation orcontinuation,

of the other signals, and further to provide in connection therewithmeans wherein the capacity may be varied by'increasing or decreasing thenumber of individual units.

A further object of my invention is to provide an annunciator employinga light for illuminating colored lenses wherein a single light may beutilized for illuminating all of the lenses simultaneously, and inconnection therewith means for individually cutting off the light fromany one or all of said lenses, and in connection therewith means wherebyarticles such as a desk may also be illuminated from said light if sodesired.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a front view of my improved signal device, aportion of said front being broken away to show the interiorconstruction;

Figure 2 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure1;

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatical view of the wiring of my improved signalillustrating the electric circuits used in connection therewith.

My improved device comprises a casing Ill having a bottom II, a back 12and end members l3, the bottom ll being provided with a longitudinallyextending slot l4 near the front edge of said bottom to provide meansthrough which light in the interior of the casing may be projecteddownwardly to a desk or any other article supported beneath the casing,as desired.

The casing is provided with a top member l5 having an opening I6 and aslide cover l1. By removing the cover I! an opening is provided in thetop through which the mechanism within the casing may be inspected, andfor the replacement of lamps or other broken or worn out parts.

Supported on the upper surface of the back side of the member M is ablock 18 to provide a stand for supporting the signal units, each ofsaid units comprising a frame l9, including a U-shaped core 20, thelower leg of the member 2i? being provided with a coil 2i to form anelectromagnet. A frame member I9 is mounted on each side of the core 20having horizontallyextending members 22 at its upper end, between whichan armature 23 is pivotally mounted, the

lower end of which is supported opposite the lower end of the core 20.The lower ends of the frame members l9 are provided with upwardlyextending portions it between which an arm 25' is pivotally mounted. Theinner end of said arm is designed to engage a notch it formed in thelower end of the member 23 and to provide meansfor locking the free endof the arm 25 in a horizontal position, said member 23 being held in alatching position by means of a spring 2511, having one end mounted in abracket 21.

The casing. i0 is provided with a front member 28 having a slot 29 foreach of the levers 25, and above each of the slots 29 a signal opening38, each signal opening being provided preferably with a colored lens 3I. A horizontally arranged lamp 32 is mounted in a suitable base 33carried by a block 34, said lamp extending horizontally and opposite tothe inside of the openings so that all of the openings 30 may beilluminated by one lamp.

Supported adjacent to the inner face of the member 28 and opposite eachof the slots 2'9 and the corresponding openings 30 I have provided ashutter 35 adapted to be slidably supported against the inner face ofthe member 28 and carried by the lever 25, the said shutter 35 having anopening 36 for receiving the said mem ber 25 and provided with flanges3'! designed to rest against the sides of the lever 25. A spring 38provides means for yieldably holding the shutter 35 against the innerface of the mem ber 28 in such a manner that when the lever 25 is at itsupper limit of movement, the corresponding opening 30 will be closed,but when the lever 25 is at its lower inclined position of movement. asillustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the corresponding opening 30 willbe opened and light from the lamp 32 caused to illuminate thecorresponding lens 3|.

From the above construction it will be seen that if the coil 2| isenergized the armature or latch 23 will be moved inwardly towards thecore 20, causing the notch 26 to disengage the inner end of the lever25, permitting its outer end to drop and the shutter to be sliddownwardly to uncover the corresponding opening 30. The device may bereset by simply grasping the lever 25 and moving it upwardly until itsinner end engages the notch 26.

From this construction it will be seen that the capacity of the devicemay be increased or decreased by simply adding to or removing the unitsconsisting of the frame [9 and the levers 23, and associated. parts.

Each of the frames 19 is provided with an insulator block 39 havingbinding posts 40 by means of which the individual units may be connectedinto a common electric circuit consisting of conductors 4| and 42. Eachof the'coils 2| has a conductor 43 connected to the conductor 4| and aconductor 44 extending into a cable 45 and connecting to a push buttonor switch 6, which in turn is connected to a return conductor 41connected to the conductor 42, thus providing means whereby one of theswitches may be placed in one room and the other in another room, or atany desired point wherein the operator in a desired room may cause acorresponding coil 2i to be energized and the lever 25 actuated and thecorresponding lens 3| illuminated.

The front face of the member 23 is provided with numerals 38 or otheridentifying means for each of the signal lenses, whereby the particularlenses illuminated will indicate the place or position at which the pushbutton is located, so that the person in charge of the signal device mayknow that some person in the said room desires attention or information.

A transformer G9 is included in the conducttors 4| and 42 and providesmeans for furnishing current to the coils 2| at a lower voltage than themain line, the lamp 32 being connected in the said main line 50 andcontrolled by an exterior switch, not illustrated.

Thus, it will be seen I have provided a signal device of comparativelysimple construction and of a series of individual units any one of whichmay be removed if so desired, for repair, and replaced with another unitif so desired, by simply disconnecting the terminal 40 and theconductors ll and and removing the frame members l9 from the base l8 byremoving the screws securing the same thereto and withdrawing the arm 25from the slot 29. The slot I4 may be utilized to illuminate a desksupported underneath the signal, if so desired, or the cover I! may beremoved and means provided for illuminating the sign or picture abovethe signal device. The outer end of the lever may be used to indicatethat a signal has been given, on account of being at its lower positionof movement, even if the light should fail to illuminate thecorresponding lens. By providing a signal lamp for illuminating theinterior of the casing which is so wired as not to interfere with theremoval of the individual units, a very simple circuit is provided, overthat which would be necessary if each of the lenses were provided withan individual lamp for its illumination, thus providing a signal of verysimple construction.

I claim as my invention:

1. A signal device, comprising a casing having a signal opening in oneof its sides, a vertical slot beneath said opening, an arm projectingthrough said slot, pivot means supporting the inner end of said arm, ashutter slidably mounted on the inner face of said casing and carried bysaid arm to cover and uncover said signal opening when the lever iselevated and lowered, means carried by said arm for yieldably holdingsaid shutter against said casing, a latch bar adapted to engage theinner end of said arm to hold it in its elevated position with theshutter covering said opening, and a remote control magnetic means forreleasing said latch bar.

of said arm, a shutter slidably mounted on the inner face of said casingand carried by said arm to cover and uncover said signal opening whenthe lever is elevated and lowered, a latch bar adapted to engage theinner end of said arm to hold it in its elevated position with theshutter covering said opening, and a remote control magnetic means forreleasing said latch bar.

LEO L. KRITZ.

